Look, it may not be what you want to hear, but my suspicion is that the L.A. may take this money into account. The safest option is to declare it to them and see -- better that than it being uncovered later and a fraud investigation being triggered. And/or you could ask them? I'd be tempted to do it in writing though, so you had a paper trail.

Historically, Tax Credits have been far more lenient than the DWP/LA over overpayments. If memory serves, they have two streams -- civil investigation, and criminal investigation, although they themselves state that they only follow the latter if they absolutely have to. One slight note of caution is that I believe a single, unified, investigation service is due to be rolled out around the time of the unified single benefits system (could be wrong on this) and/or I believe there may well be a toughening up on tax credit issues. As for when this is due to happen, I do not know. I say this not to alarm you, but rather, to encourage you to declare your situation to them: far better to do it now than wait for a change in climate at the HMRC regarding these issues, which up to now, has been lenient. Also -- and please correct me on this -- but in terms of actual money that your partner has coming in, we're not talking about a major discrepancy between what you've been declaring and what he's been earning? If that's true, then I wouldn't lose anymore sleep over this: you may well have made a minor transgression, but a volunteer in the C.A.B. told me that he regularly sees Tax Credit overpayments running into the tens of thousands of pounds. By your account above, you are probably small beer, and I would suspect uninteresting to fraud investigators who are looking for bigger fish to fry. So, to reiterate what has been said above: do a forensic analysis of your income over the last X amount of relevant years. Have documentation on your partner's income, his employer, and so on. Figure out exactly what he has been earning, and write a succinct cover letter explaining your situation. If I were you, I would write merely explaining the facts; do not spend a lot of time apologising (above and beyond a simple admission of error and a desire to set things right). Remember, it will be an assessor who has to sift through lots of cases like yourself -- and probably a whole lot worse -- and so he or she will want you to get to the point. Try and make their job as easy as possible. I cannot guarantee that nothing further will come from this. From your story, I think it is highly unlikely. Do the paperwork, write the letter, and get on with your life. And your C.A.B. sounds terrible (I suspect a lot of it depends on the experience/attitude of the volunteers)-- try Welfare Rights if you have them in your area and need more advice. Good luck.

So your business partner was running a business using your bank account for multiple years because he/she had bad credit? But surely it doesn't take a lot to get a basic bank account, of the kind that CAGGERs advise people to get if they're about to go bankrupt? Was your partner having to use your account for credit for the business transactions? I appreciate that you're reticent to go into too many details online (that's smart), but from what you've said, surely you will need your business partner to speak to the LA investigators on record to confirm the unorthodox business relationship you have had in the past? Also, my understanding was that investigators may well release details to legal over the phone, but that they only really have to just prior to the interview, and that's just enough information so that legal can advise their client accordingly. (I am open to correction on that though.) What I would say is that, given that this all sounds pretty unorthodox, you're going to need evidence to back it up, whether that be details of the business using your account, and/or your partner going on record. As it stands, if I were a fraud investigator (which I'm not, nor am I an ex DWP/LA employee), the first person I would be speaking to post-IUC would be your (ex) partner.

You, sir, sound like a gentleman and a scholar. Not only do I feel warm and fuzzy at your contribution to this thread -- I feel genuinely inspired as to your contribution to humanity. I salute you.

Chablar, one thing that might have been mentioned (sorry if I have missed it) is that you should write separate letters to each department (DWP, LA, HMRC) explicitly detailing what has happened, with dates, and figures. Be forensic about this - make sure you are crystal clear on the amounts you received from the different government departments, and the amounts you earned. Your documentation will not stretch to four different departments, so I would make copies of payslips, award letters, and bank statements, and explain in the covering letter why you are not providing originals, but you will in due course (provide the originals to one department, say, the LA). Make sure all correspondence is sent by recorded delivery. You may well be called in for an IUC from one (or more than one) department, but you are going in there to confess, apologise, and face the music, and so I wouldn't necessarily expect the sort of heat had you been caught by them, and were denying all allegations. These investigators have targets to hit; you are providing them with an open and shut case. It may well not be a walk in the park and a group hug, but as I've stated, you're not trying to make their lives more difficult. Lastly, take one day at a time. The wheels of the machine turn very slowly, and it is easy to ruminate on the big scary unknowns. You made a mistake -- you have your reasons which explain but do not excuse the mistakes you have made, which you recognise, and you are doing the right thing (it is not like you were living in a villa in Spain with your mistress whilst claiming for five kids back in Doncaster). If you feel unduly stressed, have a chat with CAB or Welfare Rights -- my experience of the latter in my area has been superb, although I should note that CAG posters have had variable experiences. You will get this sorted -- just pay close attention to your records and your paperwork to make the government's job as easy as possible.

just to clarify- has the partner been paying council tax for another address? am I right in thinking that he would be eligible to pay council tax minus student discount whilst at the ops address?

Yo know, it's easy to skewed impression of the DWP/LA here because of all the horror stories (even though there are fantastic government staff who advise here on their own free time- thank you!), but it's good to read non-horror stories like yours. I would also say that you have been lucky, as well... Sounds like they could have pushed this further had they wanted to.

Really, there are three possibilities on the table: they think you have misled them in your initial application for HB; they think you have not informed them of a change of circumstances; you have been in receipt of a large overpayment -- that may be their fault -- but the LA rules require them to interview you as standard protocol. Estellyn and KK3852 are both far more switched on about this than I am, but this board sees a lot of people posting who have complicated on/off relationships with their spouses, often exacerbated by sharing addresses and joint bank accounts post-split. Also, undeclared capital seems to pop up now and again, where a 'client' has either failed to inform the LA of money or property they have, or has inherited some during the claim but not realised/chosen not to declare it to the relevant authorities, and/or only declared to one government office, erroneously believing that different government departments (HMRC, LA, DWP) will 'talk' to each other. Even if you can't afford legal advice, I would suggest a chat with Welfare Rights or CAB. People have had different experiences with them, and the quality of the service that they provide seems to vary depending on manpower and experience in the area, but it doesn't hurt to try.My own local Welfare Rights are brilliant not just with this, but other welfare issues (ATOS, etc). In your shoes, I would also be tempted to e-mail round solicitors asking specifically if they have any experts in social security law/benefit fraud, as they often offer free half hour advice sessions, which is better than a kick in the head.

Out of curiosity, what were the initial circumstances that led your friends to call foul during your relationship? And why did your friends video her? It sounds like they went to quite a bit of effort (and why didn't they report her?) In addition, as others have pointed out, morphine is at the top end of the who pain ladder and should only be used after NSAIDs and other, weaker opiates. Chronic fatigue is a funny disease often associated with a psychiatric element (please note that I am not saying it is 'all in the head') and so your ex partner's health might be quite complicated. That being said, only you know the full situation and as KK said, you must do what you think is right, although it might be worth a chat with someone impartial such as CAB or Welfare Rights before you do something.

Jabba Jones and ID, thank you for the clarification I was thinking more along the lines of, given how stressful an investigation is, even if person x is ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing, that things would run smoother (and look a lot better) if he were to be the one to come forward and say 'look, I only just recently became aware of this, you need to be aware of this, and let me know what financial records of mine you need/let me know how I can assist you further".

perhaps id, kk or jabba j can keep me right on this, but what if the original poster doesn't report the fraud and it comes to light later: would it not be better to report it now, and let the relevant authorities clear the original poster of any involvement? not meaning to stir the pot, but is there a risk of the op becoming embroiled in an investigation that could have been avoided had he preempted by informing the correct authorities?

I have several queries. 1) Where has the 'house in London' angle come from? Do you have any links with London, or is this just 'out of the ether' and complete nonsense? 2) Did the LA officer actually say that they had received information from the fraud investigation service, or just the DWP (i.e. why is this not being jointly investigated with the LA if there is indeed an investigation going on?) The wheels of the machine turn very slowly, and I doubt that the FIS would investigate you on the back of things that have occured with A4E/sanctions. If there is an ongoing investigation, then these things that have been happening in January will undoubtedly be correlated not causally related, and the investigation will have been occurring for a while. (Also, given the cost of a fraud investigation, I wouldn't assume it is there to make you 'go away'; they can still pursue you if you sign off.) Even if there an investigation, they (the DWP) are unlikely to tell you that it is ongoing. I don't know the data protection law, but I would be almost certain that there will be opt outs for law enforcement officials and the like. I'm sorry I don't have answers for you, just more questions. At this stage, it might be worth a chat with welfare rights if you have them in your area.

Oh, and Jadeybags, I know you've been through the ringer, and so you will photocopy everything you send and send via recorded delivery!

Are you living with your partner? Do you have any evidence of the involvement of the fraud investigation team on the DWP side of things?

Well, baz10195 might. Baz, what is the problem?